This book explores the rites of a sexual story-telling culture and examines the nature of these newly emerging narratives and the socio-historical conditions that have given rise to them.

First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Written and illustrated by a girl who was sexually molested by a family member, this book reaches out to other children by carrying Jessie’s message “It's o.k. to tell; help can come when you tell." Written and illustrated by a young girl who was sexually molested by a family member, this book reaches out to other children in a way that no adult can, Jessie's words carry the message, "It's o.k. to tell; help can come when you tell."This book is an excellent tool for therapists, counselors, child protection workers, teachers, and parents dealing with children affected by sexual abuse.Jessie's story adds a sense of hope for what should be, and the knowledge that the child protection system can work for children. Simple, direct, and from the heart, Jessie gives children the permission and the courage to deal with sexual abuse."Please Tell! is a beautifully simple book with a profoundly important message for children who have been sexually abused: the abuse wasn't their fault. Written and illustrated by Jessie, herself a pre-teen survivor of sexual abuse, it tells kids just what to do to get the help they need." Kristin A. Kunzman, abuse therapist and author of The Healing Way: Adult Recovery from Childhood Sexual Abuse

Solo parenting, in vitro fertilization, surrogate mothers, gay and lesbian families, cloning and the prospect of �designer babies,� Viagra and the morning-after pill, HIV/AIDS, the global porn industry, on-line dating services, virtual sex--whether for better of worse, our intimate lives are in the throes of dramatic change. In this thought-provoking study, sociologist Ken Plummer examines the transformations taking place in the realm of intimacy and the conflicts--the �intimate troubles�--to which these changes constantly give rise. In surveying the intimate possibilities now available to us and the issues swirling around them, Plummer focuses especially on the overlap of public and private. Increasingly, our most private decisions are bound up with public institutions such as legal codes, the medical system, or the media. What impact does the increasingly public character of personal life have on our sense of ourselves and on how we view our own intimate choices? To navigate our way through a world in which people�s private lives are so often subject to public scrutiny and debate, and in which the public sphere is increasingly pluralized and contested, we must broaden our understanding of what it means to be a citizen. Through the idea of "intimate citizenship," Plummer sets an important agenda for the years to come.

A provocative scholar delivers the first book on the new science of storytelling: the latest thinking on why we tell stories and what stories reveal about human nature.

"The Storytelling Non-Profit is a portable consultant for fundraisers, communicators and executive directors who want to tell great stories. In this book, professionals will learn a process for telling a story that inspires and resonates with a target audience."--Back cover.

It happened one night not long after that holiday. I think they had been out but I'm not sure. I remember I was sleeping in my bed when the noises of my mum and him getting home awoke me. Suddenly, my bedroom door opened but it wasn't my mum. I didn't know where she was. It was him. I pretended to be asleep. He came to the side of the bed and I didn't know what was happening but my mind told me to stay still. He pulled the covers back, I didn't move. I kept my eyes closed. My heart felt like it was jumping out of my chest. He lifted my legs apart and I let them move. He pulled up my nightdress and pulled my pants down. I didn't even try to open my eyes. Imagine being an innocent 7-year-old girl with a broke, single mum. Now imagine your mum meets a man that can give her a nice house and a better life in exchange for you. That's what happened to me. For years I suffered neglect and psychological and sexual abuse from him, with my mum being a silent witness. I had No One to Save Me, yet I survived.